1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to children's modular furniture, and more particularly relates to components for children at home or at school to assemble and reassemble into multiple assemblies of their own furniture for multiple, school-related purposes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Furniture assemblies to which the present invention generally relates are known in the art. Typical known furniture assemblies comprise modules which can be coupled together to build modular assemblies of furniture bases. The modular assemblies of furniture bases are then set on the floor and serve as platforms for supporting several different auxiliary components. The modular assemblies of furniture bases and the auxiliary components couple together to build different assemblies of furniture, like a chair, a sofa, a table and so on.
One of the known furniture assemblies begins with a module, for the furniture base assembly, which has a rectangular bottom edge for sitting on the floor, a rectangular top surface positioned above the bottom edge, and a four-sided wall interconnecting the top surface with the bottom edge. The top surface is recessed with several criss-crossed slots. The top surface is also recessed along the four sides of its perimeter with slender, rectangular openings. For coupling two such modules together, there are inverted-U shaped clips, with legs having cross-sections in the shape of slender rectangles, for insertion one apiece into the slender, rectangular openings of the top surfaces. Thus two modules can be coupled together to build a modular assembly of a furniture base. This known furniture assembly further includes several kinds of auxiliary components, for releasably coupling with the furniture base. Some auxiliary components couple with the furniture base to build chair or sofa assemblies. Still others build table, shelf or bed assemblies. For coupling purposes, each auxiliary component has a downwardly extending, stubby flange looped around in a rectangle, for insertion into the criss-crossed network of slots in the top surfaces of the furniture base. A furniture assembly like that above is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 3,811,728.
The children's modular furniture of the present invention is an improvement over the prior art. To begin with, the children's modular furniture of the present invention is scaled to size for children. More importantly, the assembled components of the present invention assemble to make furniture assemblies with adjustable sizes, for the needs of differently sized children. The problem involved here is that children generally, and particularly children below the age of six, differ in relative sizes among one another much more so than do adults. To solve that problem, the children's modular furniture of the present invention provides adjustably high chair seats and desk tops for children in widely ranging size groups.
Other shortcomings of the prior art relate to how the prior art furniture assemblies are put together: the prior art assemblies generally fix together in ways too difficult for small children to manage without an adult's help. In particular, the strength required to force the components together is generally more than what a small child will possess. A related shortcoming, the reverse of that last point, is that the prior art assemblies also appear to require more strength for forcing the components apart than small children will generally possess.
Still other shortcomings of the prior art furniture assemblies relate to the degree of intellect required to solve the puzzle of how it is that the components assemble together. For children, building their own school furniture is itself an important activity, for the twin effects of developing motor coordination and developing problem-solving skills. But if the puzzle is too difficult, such that children must be helped by adults, those effects are unrealized.
Still more shortcomings of the prior art relate to the weight of the individual components. That is, the auxiliary components must be light enough for the children to be able to lift above and manipulate onto the furniture bases. Further, the furniture bases must be light enough for the children to be able push and slide across the floor.
Still further shortcomings of the prior art relate to the uses to which the prior art furniture assemblies can be put. The children's modular furniture of the present invention builds not only chair and bed assemblies, but also desk and stage assemblies, as well as various other assemblies for displaying school lessons. Indeed, all the resultant furniture assemblies of the present invention have particular utility for such learning environments that can be typically associated with school, pre-school and day-care centers, indeed the home as well.